The NEW In Defense of the Faith

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

I guess I will only get to post mine. This is one that I typed up recently for a scholarship application for seminary funding. I hope you are encouraged!

- Glenn

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I was born at 8:36 AM on September 28, 1981. My mother and father are Christians and members of the Southern Baptist denomination. They raised me in a Christian home and Christian schooling and from birth I was raised in a Southern Baptist Church, Red Bank Baptist, in Chattanooga, TN. There has not been a time in my life when I have been outside of participating within a local church community, or a time in my life, which I can recall to mind, that I have not known the Lord. I was raised in the covenant community and at a young age I recall praying to receive Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour. I was baptized when I was 14 years old. Throughout my life I have had struggles, but overall Christ has always drawn me to Himself and I have been able to overcome those struggles and grow in my faith by the power of His Spirit.

During high school I was engaged to think much more critically about my own faith and what I actually believed about God’s word. This started the next major phase in my spiritual growth and development. I studied every day and at night I even found myself unable to sleep until my mind had thought through all that I had read, trying to answer the questions I was asking myself. During this portion of my life I learned a great deal and I will always praise God for His mercy in granting me those desires to read and learn.

Through God’s providence, there were several factors which lead to my spiritual growth the last two years of high school. My teachers at Chattanooga Christian, in particular my Bible and English professors, were very encouraging and challenging. They pushed me to seek after Christ and His truth and by their ministry God built in me a passion for His kingdom and His truth. As I entered into college, God continued to build me into the man I have now become.

In going to a secular University I was not sure what to expect, but God showed me a place where I could minister and be ministered to – the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. I was able to learn much in the company of fellow Christians who came together to discuss the Bible and to minister to the students at the University. It is quite possible that during those years I developed my deepest and most foundational understanding of God’s word. In those years I also found my closest brothers with whom I now regularly fellowship.

This leads me to my next major phase of life. After becoming close to many of the brothers I met at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry I decided to visit the church they were all attending. I joined Concord Baptist Church at the beginning of 2005. Shortly after joining I met the woman who was soon to become my wife. We were married in October of that same year.

In September of 2006, our son (Ezekiel) was born on the tenth of the month. He has been such a blessing in our life and we are so thankful that God has given him to be part of our family. My wife left her teaching position at the end of that school year in order to take care of our son once he was born.

This is where I am now, in the great salvation God has given to me. I am working a full time job to support my family and I am enjoying every moment that I have to spend with them. My family and I are excited about my current attendance at Reformed Theological Seminary and we are praying that God will continue to reveal His glory to us as we grow in His grace.